In the past, a number of machines have been proposed for bringing about a trimming of vegetables such as radishes, onions and the like, such that roots, stems, leaves, or other unwanted portions can be removed relatively rapidly.
Such machines of the prior art have taken a number of forms, including the use of a number of chain driven, flighted members designed to interact together in such a way as to remove certain portions of vegetables caused to pass thereover.
A machine exemplary of such devices is a machine manufactured by Haines Equipment Co. of Avoca, N.Y., utilizing a co-planar array of flighted member that cooperate together to achieve a topping of onion plants. While satisfactory for some purposes, devices of that type in which no stationary shear bar is utilized simply are not suitable for the satisfactory removal of unwanted portions from certain vegetables, such as radishes.
Another type of prior art machine involves rotary cutter members designed to rotate adjacent the edge of a sharpened shear bar, and although machines of this type have been satisfactory for many purposes, they have been completely unsatisfactory for use with vegetables such as radishes, for cuts or nicks to the bodies of such vegetables will markedly affect the saleability thereof.
It was for the purpose of improving upon prior art devices of this general type that I evolved the present high speed trimmer designed to provide a highly effective shearing action upon unwanted portions of certain vegetables.